BOX SCORE
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - PLNU could not contain the Lancer trio of Ingrid Carmona, Jessica Kalama and Jelena Dragovic and would lose 3-1 Tuesday night (25-22, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20). The No. 14-ranked Sea Lions have now lost three of their last four GSAC contests and fall to 13-9 overall, 7-6 in conference.
Carmona, a sophomore from Santo Domingo, D.R., blasted 23 winners to lead sixth-ranked California Baptist (23-3, 10-3) while Kalama and Dragovic each added 11 kills.
Tabitha Henken had 14 kills, the only Sea Lion in double figures.
The Lancers pulled ahead 5-1 in the opening set thanks to a pair of kills by Carmona and two PLNU attack errors. CBU stayed in the lead and were up 21-17 when the Sea Lions started to rally. Henken and
Alyssa Dwyer each had kills that gave the Green and Gold hope on a comeback, but Cal Baptist called a time out, regained the momentum and won by three points.
The Sea Lions evened the match in the second. Loma knocked down 12 kills on 42 attempts for a .167 percentage but held the Lancers to a .041 percentage. Tied at 12-12, Point Loma started pulling away.
Alyssa Pitkin had a kill with a set from
Natalie Hamill, with the next three points coming on attack errors by the CBU offense. The two sides traded points until
Alyssa Dwyer ended the set with another winner.
The freshman middle blocker ended up with eight kills in the match.
CBU controlled the third and cruised to a 10-point win though the set was neck-and-neck early on. The Lancers pulled away at the 10-10 mark and never looked back.
“They are a tough team and we put up a fight, but it wasn't good enough,” said Hamill who had 18 assists and seven digs.
California Baptist closed out the match by taking the fourth set. PLNU struggled offensively in the stanza, recording more errors (8) than kills (5) for a -.094 average. Meanwhile, CBU hammered 16 winners, eight by Carmona.
The Sea Lions hit just .080 for the match and were out done in most statistical categories.
“We worked hard and we had a tough loss today,” said Sea Lion setter
Aimee Bird who had 20 digs and 13 assists. “Cal Baptist is a good team. I can't wait to see them at nationals.”
Point Loma takes on Azusa Pacific Saturday, October 23 in the Golden Gymnasium at 3pm. APU beat PLNU 3-2 up at Azusa earlier in the season. APU is ranked eighth and comes in with a 24-4 record, including 9-4 in conference.
